


Purrs under the palms

by enbyofdionysus



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-04-04 19:09:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4149519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbyofdionysus/pseuds/enbyofdionysus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At first, Nico’s a little confused. He knows the dimples, the warm smile, the crazed eyes. He doesn’t know the bright nail polish, the lip gloss, the pink eyeshadow, the leopard-print boots.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Never realized I didn't upload this here.

It’s his first time being in the coffee house when there isn’t a support group meeting going on. Of course, it’s because it’s a small party being thrown by said support group, so it isn’t really all that different, but the change is nice – there are more people present and the atmosphere is a little more laid back and less official. People dig into the food provided by the group’s administrators and volunteers. Nico watches from one of the couches, his regular black coffee on the small table in front of him and a muffin perched in his lap.

Some of the members from the support group recognize him and ask him how he’s been doing, give him a smile, and then disappear into the crowd again. Part of him wants to dissolve into the crowd with them, but another part is perfectly happy being a wallflower. The buzz of the place, that feeling of acceptance, is enough for him. At least, until a familiar face emerges. “I _thought_ I saw you!”

At first, Nico’s a little confused. He knows the dimples, the warm smile, the crazed eyes. He _doesn’t_ know the bright nail polish, the lip gloss, the pink eyeshadow, the leopard-print boots. And yet his heart stutters the same when Pollux pulls him into a hug.

“How’ve you been?” Pollux asks him, breath right in his ear. He pulls away and moves around the table to take a seat on the couch. Nico misses the contact immediately.

“Decent. I came out to my sister last week.”

Pollux’s eyes widen.“And?”

Nico smiles. “And she’s good. She said that as long as I’m happy, she’s happy.”

“Nico!” Pollux gasps excitedly. “I’m so proud of you! I’m so _happy_ for you!”

His ears burn and he tucks his head, smiling. “Thanks. This group’s helped me out a lot, you know. I don’t think I’d’ve been able to accept myself as much as I’ve been able to if it weren’t for you guys. I don’t think I’d’ve been able to _learn_ as much as I have. Like… pansexual vs. bisexual, transgender vs. transsexual.” He licks his lips nervously, gives Pollux a side-glance. “Asexual.” But Pollux is smiling all the same.

“Well, that’s what we’re here for. I’m glad you’ve been feeling a little more comfortable in your skin.”

“About that. I… Can I ask you something? And I hope I’m not being offensive or anything, but–”

“Ask away.”

“Why are you wearing makeup and women’s shoes?”

The lights in Pollux’s eyes dance with amusement. “Well,”he says, “they’re not women’s shoes, because they’re _my_ shoes, and I’m wearing makeup because I like makeup.”

“Oh.” That makes sense. “So… is it a fashion thing or a cross dressing thing or–?”

“It’s more of a me thing,” Pollux says with a shrug. He looks uncomfortable for a minute before saying, “You’re still new to this, but you remember when we were talking about gender identity a few weeks ago?”

Nico nods.

Pollux makes a gesture toward himself. “I’m genderfluid.”

Nico frowns, trying to remember the word. “You’re both a woman and a man?”

“Kind of. Some days I feel more feminine, other days I feel more masculine. Sometimes it flows throughout the day. Sometimes I’m comfortable with myself, other times I’m not.”

“So right now, you’re feeling more feminine? You’re passing as a woman?”

Pollux smiles at that. “For me, it’s not about passing. I don’t want to pass as a woman; I just want to be myself.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Too confusing?”

“No, I get it.” He takes a sip of his coffee. “But um… what pronouns do you use?”

Pollux’s smile brightens. “I’m still good with he/him/his.”

Nico smiles back. “Okay.”

There’s surprisingly no tension after that and although Pollux eventually gets up to get food and talk to some people, he swiftly returns with a plate of Lays potato chips and doughnut holes. “Food is the only thing I need in life,” he says, grinning and nudging Nico’s thigh casually as he sits. “I’d give up sex for food.”

“I’ve never had it,” Nico says. He picks a blueberry from his muffin and pops it into his mouth.

“ _Food?_ ” Pollux asks incredulously.

The face he makes makes Nico almost choke. “Not food,” he laughs. “Sex.” He shrugs, immediately feeling the blood rush to his face as he admits “I’m not sure if I ever want to have it.” He waits for the snort, for the laugh, for the ‘you’ll change your mind,’ but instead what he hears is a hum as Pollux sucks the doughnut glaze from his fingers.

“You do what you’re comfortable with. It’s not unnatural.”

Nico’s heart skips. “You think?”

“I know for a fact. Besides, cuddling’s just as nice.”

It’s silent again between them, but it’s not uncomfortable. Pollux looks perfectly satisfied with his food, with being next to Nico. It feels nice. Pollux’s thigh is warm against his and the texture of his jeans feels good when Nico brushes against them to reach down and get his coffee. He wonders if the rest of Pollux feels just as nice. His stomach must be soft under the material of his shirt and his leather jacket’s probably warm. And he smells good. Like cinnamon spice and laundry detergent. “I think I’d like to cuddle with you.”

The words are out before he can stop them, but the look of fond surprise on Pollux’s face makes it worth it. “Yeah?”

“If you’d, you know,” Nico fumbles over his words, “be okay with that.”

“I don’t know,” Pollux admits slowly, but there’s a mischevious glint in his eye. “I only cuddle with boys who are up for making blanket forts.”

Nico’s grinning now. “I’d be up for that.”

“Then I guess we have a cuddle date, Mr. Di Angelo.”


	2. Chapter 2

After around five cuddle-dates, Nico started to wonder if maybe the Internet was not the best place for information. Trying to learn more about non-binary folk, he’d researched genderfluidity in the hopes of learning more, but what he found either didn’t seem to apply to Pollux or was run by extremely angry people who refused to explain anything at all. However, he’d found some people on YouTube who were helpful.

In fact, watching Pollux move around his apartment in East Village seemed to be an informational experience in itself. For example, gender expression didn’t always correlate to someone’s gender identity. Pollux was genderfluid, but wore the same kind of outfit every time he saw him: jeans, t-shirt, jacket; jeans, t-shirt, jacket; skinny jeans, sweater, jacket; jeans, t-shirt, boots. The only fluctuation in expression he’d noticed was really only in the nail polish. Sometimes he wouldn’t wear any and sometimes he would and sometimes he’d wear dark colors and other times it would be bright.

Watching him make popcorn in pajama pants made Nico think about what he’d said in the coffee shop weeks ago: “I’m not trying to pass as a woman. I just want to be myself.” It made a lot of sense. Pollux never dressed as a woman and the clothes he wore were only really categorized as masculine because of his face and body shape.

“Is there a reason why you’re looking at me like that?” Nico blinked and realized Pollux had caught him staring. Pollux winked. “Trying to save the image in order to paint me like one of your French girls?”

Nico choked on a laugh. “No, I just… I– I like looking at you.” It wasn’t a lie. Nico might not feel sexual attraction, but he could still find people pleasing to look at.

Pollux squinted at him faux-suspiciously and turned his attention back to the popcorn to make sure it didn’t burn.

The whole experience was little surreal, to be honest. Nico had never really had much of a love life, none at all if you discounted his overwhelming crush on Percy Jackson, and with his lack of desire for a sex life he wondered if maybe a future relationship would be out of the question altogether. Sex seemed to be the only thing the modern world cared for, a belief that the gods seemed only to fuel: they came down from Olympus, they had sex, they left. Maybe he was being cynical – his father had loved his mother after all – but with all the unclaimed demigods in the world, it didn’t seem like he was being over-dramatic.

Yet Pollux never seemed to be frustrated in keeping his hands to himself, never pushed to touch Nico anywhere he felt uncomfortable being touched, and never said anything to make Nico feel guilty for being himself. And if Pollux was like that, then there was a high probability of other people like that being out there somewhere. If it didn’t work out, he wouldn’t be alone forever. And Hades, what if he was? He’d learned to keep himself company over enough of the years. He could take care of himself.

“You’re gonna get a wrinkle between your eyebrows by the time you’re 25 if you keep frowning like that.” Nico jumped. He hadn’t heard Pollux come up behind him. The son of Dionysus shook the bag of popcorn under his nose. “Salt and butter?”

“Yes, please.”

“You want to talk about anything?”

“I… No, that’s okay. Thank you.”

“Okay. But just remember if you need to, I’m here, okay? I’m on my way to being certified.”

Nico blinked in surprise. “You’re going into psychology?”

Pollux shrugged as he moved back into the kitchen and toward the fridge. “One of my professors told me that it would be good to add a little backbone to an arts degree. Just in case. You have to eat, sleep, and breathe Theatre if you want to make it and sometimes even then you don’t. It’s the same thing with music, writing, and art. It can take decades for someone to even notice you and you need something to support yourself during those decades, so.”

“So psychology.”

“Yeah.” He broke a stick of butter in half and smiled up at him as he turned on the stove. “I figure my old man is a master of madness, so why not help the people who think they’re crazy?”

“Any sub-field in particular you want to go into?” Nico asked.

“Children’s psychology?” Pollux suggested. “There’s not really a lot of psychiatrists out there who’re experienced in helping queer and transgender kids and their families while being sensitive at the same time, you know? Or maybe I should be a school counselor.”

Nico smiled. “I like that idea.”

“Yeah?”

“I could see you as a counselor.”

“I like kids,” Pollux agreed. He plopped the half-stick of butter into a small pan to melt. “What about you? Thinking about college?”

“I don’t think I can afford it,” Nico said honestly. “When I’m not living at Camp Half-Blood, I’m in the Underworld. I don’t have money, don’t have a job, don’t have a resume to get a job, don’t have experience or skills to have a resume.”

“Just because you don’t have experience doesn’t mean that you’re not skilled,” Pollux said with a shake of his head. “You’re polite, you’re friendly, and you already have three references.”

“Who?” Nico asked, frowning.

“Chiron, my dad, and me.”

“You?”

“I’m not related to you. I can always lie and say that you’ve worked under me for a show.”

“Worked under you?”

“I’m one of the light people at the Little Blue Theatre.”

“But then you’d be lying.”

Pollux made a face. “When you’re trying to get employed in this economy, sometimes you have to lie. I’ll teach you some stuff anyway just in case.” He turned the stove off and pulled out a large bowl to pour the popcorn into.

Nico watched. “I could be a mortician. Go to college for that.”

Pollux looked up, raising an eyebrow. “A mortician?”

“Some scientists aren’t as respectful to the dead as they should be.”

Pollux nodded. He took the butter off the stove and poured it over the popcorn.

“What movie do you want to watch?” Nico asked.

“You choose.”

“I chose last time.”

“I’m not picky. If I didn’t like the movie, I wouldn’t own it.” He picked up the bowl and made his way around the counter. “So choose, my culture-shocked cuddle-buddy.”

Nico snorted. “Alright. Um.” His eyes scanned the DVDs for something they hadn’t watched yet. “Frozen?” Pollux made a happy sound through the fistful of popcorn he’d shoved into his mouth. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

**

“Hey, Nico?”

“Mm?” They’d watched Wicked twice last week and Nico was squinting at the television trying to remember the actress’ name because he was sure that Elsa was played by the same woman as Elphaba. _Let It Go_ would be stuck in his head forever, he was sure of it.

“Are we dating?”

The question caught him off-guard and he peeled his eyes away from Elsa’s newly transformed dress. “Huh?”

Pollux shifted a little, but kept his head against Nico’s chest. “Are we… y'know?” He waved his hand in a little circle. “Dating. Going steady. Seeing each other. Sharing the pork fried rice.”

“ _Sharing the pork fried rice_?” Nico asked, cracking up.

Pollux’s face went red, but he was grinning. “You know what I mean.”

“Well, I mean, I guess? I mean. I thought we kind of were?”

“You did?”

Nico felt his ears burn. “Was that wrong to assume?”

“I won’t say anything if you don’t,” Pollux said. He reached down and entwined their hands, making Nico’s heart race.

He couldn’t stop smiling. “So we’re officially sharing the pork fried rice.”

Pollux groaned. “Please don’t tell anyone I said that.”

“The world will know,” Nico sung. Pollux laughed out loud.

“I shouldn’t have shown you that musical.”

“I’ll make it up to you. You can pick the pet names.”

“Oh, pet names!” Pollux laughed. “We’re going to be _that_ couple, huh?” Nico squeezed their hands at the word ‘couple.’ “Alright. How about… Marco.”

“Marco?” Nico asked, confused.

“Polo,” Pollux hummed. Nico snorted.

“You would.”

“You don’t like it? What about…” Pollux’s lips curled. “Kitten?”

“I’ll have dad write your paperwork for the Fields of Punishment.”

Pollux cackled. “What about 'boo’?”

“What about 'no’?”

“Angel?”

“You’re a terrible human being.”

“You said I could pick the pet names!”

Nico groaned.

“Angel cake?”

“No.”

“Batsy?”

“No.”

“Baby doll?”

“ _Gods_ , no.”

“I don’t think I’d mind being called 'baby,'” Pollux said, leaning against him again to get more comfortable. “Babe. Baby. Baby-boy. Baby–”

“Girl.”

Pollux snapped his head up to look at him. “What?”

“Baby-girl?” Nico offered with a shrug.

Pollux stared at him. Then he whispered, “Say it again.”

“Baby-girl.”

Something sparkled in Pollux’s eye and then he swiftly rested against Nico’s chest once more, face flushed with joy. “Say it again?”

Nico smiled and gently pulled on a curl. “Baby-girl.”

“Again.”

“Baby-girl.” He squeezed their hands.


End file.
